Recs if you like The House in the Cerulean Sea...

When the narrator(s) makes the book even better. For new listeners and audiobook elites, here is a range of different genres and narrators that excel at audio perfection.

books whose main characters are older and disillusioned with life and go on a little adventure that melts their hearts (and heals yours)

For when things seem hopeless. We can always try again and again ❤️

This list is a community project, I asked in the club and received multiple suggestions which I then added onto a list: fiction and nonfiction, fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi, the main theme is just hope. Some people said their recommendation might not fit very well but I added it anyways.

Also, in the og post, I mentioned The Good Place and if people have recommendations tending to that, so some books are related to that.

cats across genres! these books range from books all about cats to books that feature a cat, and all are cat-friendly!

a list of problematic authors that you should boycott

Books that inspired or are similar to Studio Ghibli films

it may be months away from halloween but it’s never too early to show love and support for the often over-stigmatized black cat! these books, as you might have guessed, all include at least one black cat or are about black cats :)

books that feature an animal (real & fantastical alike) as a side character, companion, or a pet!

This is like literary sorbet, books that are simple, sweet, and pretty easy to digest when you want to turn your brain off, decompress after a big, intense book, or break out of a reading slump.

Any book with an mc over 30, whose character arch involves themes common in coming of age stories like, questioning their upbringing or experiencing some aspect of the world/ relationships/ common experience for the first time or learning who they truly are/ what’s important to them/ being themselves authentically for the first time ect.

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that go past the July start date and match at least one of these title prompts: Periodic Table, Familial Terms, Rainbow of Words (also Joseph's coat), Numerical Titles, Titular Counting 5+, Pun in the Title, and First & Last Name in the Title. Recommendations welcome!

| 2026 | every summer after: june 10 the odyssey: july 17 verity: october 2 sense & sensibility: october 16 sunrise on the reaping: november 20 dune messiah: december 18

| 2027 | children of blood & bone: january 15 the nightingale: february 12 beach read: may 7

| 2028 | cinder: november 3

We do not dream of labour but labour sure does dream of smothering and exploiting us in new and unusual ways.

aka the severance vibes are strong here

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that I think matches at least one of these cover prompts: craft, food, motion, biomes/landscapes, animals, weather.

my ideal bedtime read because I will stay up until 3 am if I get too invested in or anxious/stressed about a plot

Why deal with heterosexuality when you don't have to?

Romance books featuring queer characters living with physical disabilities, mental health struggles, chronic illness, and/or neurodevelopmental conditions.

Note: If a series features the same MCs, I've only put the first book. If a series features different MCs, I've only listed the relevant book(s) in the series.

Be aware: list spans YA to erotica.

🚫 No "magical cure" tropes or "better dead than disabled" tropes welcome. No inspo porn.

Please leave any recs or concerns in the comments. 📝

You want a fantasy book without too much stress and a guaranteed happy ending? Maybe magic and a muffin? Or talking creatures drinking tea? Sentient houseplants who are occasionally bossy? I gotcha. 😉

books that were better on audio

basically every memoir is also going to be better on audio, especially if the author narrates it, but I have a separate list for those